Miranda Atchley's Blog, page 53

Favorite Word Friday #3- Joy

Joy
noun \ˈjȯi\
  Joy is a nice word, isn't it? We hear it used many times in the Bible, when people are happy, when the world seems like a nice place to be.   To me, joy is when you're content. When you get that swelling emotion deep inside that makes you feel good. And you know that even though life may not be as perfect as you want it to be, it still has its perfect moments. It's nice to feel joyful.  Thanks for reading and happy Friday! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. See you next week for more writing talk.
-Miranda Atchley
(definition taken from Merriam Webster)

Book of the Week #17- Emily of New Moon

Emily of New Moonby L.M. Montgomery  Emily of New Moon is a series consisting of three books written by L.M. Montgomery. The series tells the story of recently orphaned Emily Byrd Starr. After her beloved father has passed away, she is sent to live with the estranged family of her mother, consisting of her aunts Elizabeth and Laura and Cousin Jimmy at their sea-side estate, New Moon. Aunt Elizabeth is the matriarch of the family, dolling out strict rules to free spirited Emily. She never approved of the marriage between Emily's parents and speaks lowly of Emily's father, creating even more friction between the two. Emily's saving graces are nervous, yet sweet Aunt Laura, and lovable Cousin Jimmy. Going to school proves even more of a challenge for Emily as most of her peers expect her to be snobbish like Aunt Elizabeth. Yet through it all she thrives and makes friends with spitfire Ilse Burnley and artist Teddy.Emily of New MoonEmily ClimbsEmily's Quest  I found the TV series Emily of New Moon before the books. Shot in Canada, the four season series aired from 1998 to 2000. The show greatly differs from the books, though I love both. After watching the first season, I decided to read the books. It has a lot of similarities to Anne of Green Gables, though they are by no means the same. Like Anne, Emily is an orphan, strong-willed and taken to dramatics, though all in different respects. Before his death, Emily's father shared with her his love for books, which Emily takes to deeply and she dreams of nothing more than being a famous authoress. This proves to be no easy feat under the scornful eyes of Aunt Elizabeth who discourages writing and reading books of any kind other than the Bible and history text books. And yet Emily finds ways to win Aunt Elizabeth's heart over to allow her to write her stories.  Throughout the three books we read along as Emily goes from being a heartbroken orphan to a strong young woman on the road to success as an authoress.  All in all, Emily of New Moon is nice series that fans of Anne of Green Gables will surely love.
I give this series a 4 out of 5.-Miranda Atchley

Writer's Memory Lane #1 A Handwritten Letter

  Today I'm checking in with a new feature for the blog: Writer's Memory Lane. I thought it'd be fun to turn back the clock and think back on some of my early days as a writer. I don't know how regular this feature will be, but I'm going to have fun finding out. If you would like to participate, feel free to leave an anecdote in the comments section, or better yet, write a post about the beginning of your writing career and leave a link in the comments. I'd love to read your stories!  So today's story is about the time I wrote a publisher to get more information on publishing a book. I believe I was either fifteen or sixteen. I hadn't really written much, but I was dying to get published. I knew I wanted to be an author, but I knew next to nothing about how to get there. I didn't know the names of any publishers and I didn't even know that self-publishing existed. So I Googled publishers and wrote to the first one I saw. I won't be mentioning any names. I actually wrote a letter on notebook paper with a pen in my teenage chicken scratch. I think it said something along the lines of, "I'm interested in getting published and was wondering how to go about it. Any information you could give me would be appreciated."  It was a terribly informal and I was awfully naive. But that's just a part of growing up. They sent my handwritten letter back along with a printed out sheet of paper explaining what their publishing services offered. Sometimes I wonder how hard the person who read my letter laughed. And yet perhaps at sixteen that same person had written a similar letter to a publishing company themselves and remembering how that felt. they simply smiled.
  Now it's nearly five years later. The letters are still in the envelope monogrammed with the publisher's logo in my box full of memories. Since then, I've discovered self-publishing, published three novels and sold over one-hundred books. Life has been far from a fairy tale, but it's all heading in a nice direction.  Thanks for reading and I hope this post made you smile. -Miranda Atchley

Pick Me Ups- Writing When You're Running On Empty

    Yesterday I was feeling a little down. I was being down on myself and my career. I just felt very apathetic and wondered if any of it was worth the effort.  And yet yesterday I got a lot of writing done. As in around twenty pages. It was amazing! And it felt so good. How I wish I could write twenty pages of brand new material every day. Or like in The Help when Skeeter Phelean wrote for fifteen hours straight. Can you imagine? Incredible. God really knew what I needed yesterday. He used those twenty pages to pick me up and make me realize yet again that this is truly what I'm meant to do. He'll help me get to the places I need to be in His perfect timing. It just takes time.  Hope you all are having a wonderful week full of writing, books and the things that make you happy. I'll see you later with more tales from a real writer's life.
-Miranda Atchley

Writing Confession #2 Insecurity

  Sometimes I still feel insecure about my writing. Okay, a lot of the time I feel insecure about my writing. I hate that. Insecurity is such an awful feeling, and it is especially bad when applied to one of your favorite things in life. I wish I could wipe them all away, but that's not so easy.  One of my biggest problems is worrying about what other people think. I wish it weren't true but it is. I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way. At some point in their lives, everyone worries about what others think of them. That's just part of human nature. Yet it gets terribly annoying.  I worry that others will find a flaw that I didn't notice in my writing. Sometimes I wonder if they don't take my writing seriously and just brush it off as nothing more than a hobby. And sometimes I worry about them simply laughing at my stories. There's a plethora of things that I can worry about with writing. Yet I know that I'm just going to have to get over it. Because I love writing too much to just give up on it because someone else doesn't quite understand it. This is what I am meant to do. Is worrying about what others think going to help me? No. Is there really anything I can do to change their mind? No. Their opinions are simply that; opinions. They are not facts. So with that in my mind, I can help myself not to worry, to keep doing what I'm meant to do and write the things I'm meant to write.  Insecurities happen all the time. It may take a lot of effort to get them under control, but we can't let them hold us back from doing what we love.
-Miranda Atchley

The Valley by Eisley

  I listened to Eisley for the first time when I was 17-years-old. It was late one summer night and I was too anxious about starting college to sleep . I had heard of Eisley before and decided in my state of sleeplessness to give them a listen. Typing their name into the search bar on YouTube produced a wealth of videos by the band, the first being Smarter. I fell in love with that first listen. Since then I've collected most of their discography and Eisely has become one of favorite bands of all time.  The Valley is the fourth studio album by whimsical indie rock band Eisely. It came to be in 2011, four years after front woman Sherri's departure from her ex. Many of the lyrics deal with her divorce, yet there are some songs about falling in love again.  Saying that The Valley is one of my favorite albums seems awfully trite. Smarter is my most played song in iTunes. No matter how many times I listen to this album, I never tire of it. It's seen me through some hard times and some good times, too. Simply put, I love this album.
The ValleyReal heartbreaker come and take me to the real heartache that everyone is talkin' 'bout | You see me then you don't | But get it right | I don't believe in magic
SmarterEven though I miss you, I'm thankful | It's obvious that this one was futile | So put your hands together and clap for the painful choice you've made cause it's right
Watch It DieFabulous teeth and a smile that'll melt your heart | Now come don't you know how to play?
SadShifting from side to side | Can't make up his God-given mind, no | Why don't you just go? | She's waitingOxygen MaskYou're a ray, a ray, a ray | You're a sunbeam ray | But now you're turning grey | Don't tell me what you think I mean to say
Better LoveCause I finally found out | You're on my side
I Wish And if I could, I'd just claim you
KindSo be very kind | Don't let the world fall on your shoulders | If so hopefully | I would find you again
Mr. MoonRecall | I want a recall | You are crying on my telephone | Bones crack and fingers blister | I might console you but look at my sisters | Brilliant like fireflies
PleaseI lost | All respect | Admiration | And trust | I was just following my heart
Ambulance
I need an ambulance | I took the worst of the blow | Send me a redeemer | Let me know | If I'm gonna be alright 
Thanks for spending your Saturday with me. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.-Miranda Atchley
P.S. Here's the video for Smarter, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful music videos ever made.

Favorite Word Friday #2- Lovely

Lovely adjective love·ly \ˈləv-lē\attractive or beatutifulvery good or likeablevery pleasing
  Can you say the word "lovely" and not feel.... lovely? I can't. To me it has a light and airy feel when you say it. It's as though your tone automatically eases and becomes more gentle as you say the word. You can't speak such phrases as listed below and be angry.  It's a lovely day.  This is a lovely book.  His eyes are lovely.  The word lovely always makes me think of 19th century literature, something that I love. They seemed to use it a lot back then. I think modern life would be better if we took time to appreciate the lovelier things in life, for there is an abundance of them.   Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend full of writing, books and fun. Until next time,
-Miranda Atchley.
(definition taken from the Merriam Webster online dictionary)

Writing Is Like Sewing

  Have you ever sewn? I have, though I'm not that great at it. My mom taught me a few things when I was around fifteen. I made some skirts, which were fairly easy, but when it came to shirts, I was hopeless. My collars would always come out either too high or too low, the sleeves lopsided. Now I mainly just embroider from time to time or stitch up a whole in my clothes when needed.   I've been thinking, writing is a lot like sewing. Let me explain:  When I start out with a story, I have a general idea of what it will look like, but I'm not entirely sure of all the details. In the beginning I'll place random sentences, paragraphs and chapters here and there. Everything is loosely being held together by a general idea, a common piece of thread. The more you work on it, the more the pieces come together. The details or thread become stronger, binding everything together until it flows, becoming one.  Hope your Thursday is fabulous. Swing by tomorrow for another installment of Favorite Word Friday!

-Miranda Atchley

Save Money With Kindle Unlimited

  Happy Wednesday, guys. Hope you're all enjoying your week thus far. Today I thought I'd share a little bit about e-books with you. Even though there's nothing like reading an old book, reading on e-readers and tablets can be fun too. It's great to have up to a thousand books with you at once. And it's so convenient to be able to log into the Kindle store and browse through millions of books. Yet sometimes those books can get a little pricey. For instance, some of the big-time bestsellers can cost up to $14 to download. I was just talking to someone about this the other day and told them about Kindle Unlimited. They had never heard of it, and I know there are tons of others out there who haven't either. So let me be the one to introduce you.  Kindle Unlimited is a service offered by Amazon that allows Kindle owners to borrow up to ten books at a time. It's a lot like going to your local library except you never have to leave the comfort of your own home. There are no due dates on the books and there are thousands to choose from (including all three of mine!). The subscription costs $9.99 per month and allows you to borrow any ten books at a time from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library. To subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, just go to the settings on your Amazon account, click on "My Kindle Unlimited" and fill out the required information. If you're a new Kindle owner, you can try the subscription free for 31 days.  Overall Kindle Unlimited is a great program for avid readers looking to save on e-books.   Thanks for reading!
-Miranda Atchley

My First Book Signing

      Saturday I held my first book signing. The first Saturday of each month the town I live in holds "Trade Days." They block off Main Street and anyone is allowed to set up along the street and sell things. This seemed like a good place to sell books.
  I made a sign that read "Local Author Miranda Atchley Book Signing" in big cursive letters and set my books out on the table. A few people came by and looked at my books, telling me how neat they were and to keep up the good work. One woman, local author Wanda M. Gray, specifically came to see me after seeing my ad in the paper. She bought a book and we talked books and writing. It was nice to speak with a fellow author, a rare occurrence in my life, which I hope will someday be remedied.   I sold a total of three books. I was ecstatic. It felt so great each time these three people came up to me and said they wanted to buy a book. It was electrifying signing books as I stood on the street. I loved seeing people walk away with a copy of my book in their hands. Of course it would have been nice to sell all thirty books I brought with me, but I knew I'd be happy as long as I sold at least a few. That's three more people who own and will (hopefully) read my books. Three people who had never heard of me before and will now read something I wrote, hopefully becoming fans that will read my future works, telling their friends about my books. Most important of all, three people who will read a message every human being needs to hear. How could I not be happy about that?  I thank God for this opportunity and the people that stopped by. God really does care and knows how to keep me going. All in all I feel that my book signing was a success. I had a lot of fun and I hope to do it again someday.  Stay tuned this week for more writing posts, book talk and even a tip on saving money on e-books.
-Miranda Atchley